Australia's Adam Scott justified his position as pre-tournament favourite with a brilliant display in the rain-soaked second round of the Scottish PGA Championship.
Heavy rain this morning greeted the early starters at Gleneagles, in stark contrast to the sunshine which bathed the Centenary Course, venue for the 2014 Ryder Cup, all day yesterday.
Persistent downpour meant water was gathering on the greens by 9am and the greenkeeping staff were out in force to clear the putting surface to allow play to continue.
It did not seem to do Scott any harm as he compiled a flawless 65 for a 12 under par halfway total of 132 and a four shot lead over compatriot Richard Green.
Until last week Scott thought he would be playing in the NEC Invitational in Seattle instead of at Gleneagles, but the 22-year-old belatedly discovered his victory in Qatar in March and world ranking of 61 were not good enough to qualify.
It meant he was comfortably the highest ranked player in the field here and started the Stg£1million event as hot favourite, a position he joked he had not been in since an outstanding junior amateur career that saw him ranked second in the world.
A first round 67, which culminated with an eagle three on the 18th last night, left Scott two behind left-hander Green, who held the overnight lead after his 65.
But while Green got off to a shaky start with two bogeys in his first three holes, Scott opened with two pars before a birdie on the par five 12th took him to six under.
Further birdies at the two other par fives on the back nine, the 16th and 18th, then took Scott out in 33 and to eight under par, and that was good enough for a two shot lead.
Scott will be able to command more of coach Butch Harmon's time now that Tiger Woods has scaled down his involvement, and already looked to be reaping the rewards of a week spent with Harmon in Las Vegas before last week's USPGA championship.
A superb approach to three feet on the second set up a simple birdie, and when another followed from close range at the next, Scott was 10 under and four shots clear of the field.
Spain's Ignacio Garrido had briefly closed the gap to one shot before running up a triple bogey seven on the first, Green picking up shots at the 12th and 14th to remain Scott's closest challenger.
Scott looked in real danger of dropping his first shot of the day after missing the green by 10 yards on the par three sixth and leaving his attempted recovery, a towering lob over a bunker, 20 feet short.
But the par putt unerringly found the centre of the cup and normal service was swiftly resumed with another birdie on the next.
Two massive blows took Scott to within 20 yards of the green on the 564-yard ninth, and a pitch to four feet brought his seventh birdie of the day and meant he had birdied all five of the par fives.
Green was eight under with two holes to play with Ireland’s Philip Walton and Swede Fredrik Andersson two shots further back in a share of fourth.
Walton, who shot a four under par 68 yesterday, moved to six under for the tournament today while Des Smyth is back on level par after eight holes.